Obscure book, by obscure author, very few & poor reviews, yet I'm really enjoying it.

[twowheels]

I have no idea who the author is, only initials are given and a very brief bio, and it's his only book.

I don't even remember when/how I got the book, though the Amazon order page says I got it for free... it sat on my Kindle for a while until I decided to start reading it on a whim, even though the reviews are few and poor, (2 one star reviews, 1 3 star, and 1 5 star), some of which said they didn't even bother reading the book.

I wouldn't say it's the most amazingly awesome book I've ever read, but it most definitely doesn't deserve 1 star ratings, more of a 4 in my mind, and for a self-pub it was well formatted and I only found a few minor editing mistakes. :-)

Anyhow... no association with the author (like I said, I don't even know who the author is), but I think it's a good enough book that it deserves to be pulled out of obscurity, and is definitely worth the $.99 current price, so here's my recommendation... if you're one who's willing to take risks on unknown authors, I recommend this book as a fast and fun read.


How To Rescue Children That Don't Exist

http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Childre.../dp/B00IDVR0ME

Tristan Evans is a ten year old boy.
At this moment in time, he is missing.

There is not a person in England who hasn't heard of the missing Tristan, or seen a picture of the mousey haired boy with grey eyes. Unfortunately, since he disappeared, no-one has seen Tristan.
That is, except for one person:

Me.

I know where the boy is. I know he is alive, and that he is safe. In normal circumstances, this might make me a national hero. However, these are not normal circumstances and as such, normal rules do not apply.

One of those rules is that I'm not allowed to tell anyone that I know he is alive. If I do, no-one will ever see him again.

In other words, he is a hostage. And, somehow, I've gotten stuck in the middle, between the parents who understandably want him back and between those who will keep Tristan locked away until their demands are met. And let me tell you this: it's much harder to negotiate when you're not allowed to mention what you're negotiating for.
And it's even harder when you're not sure what you're negotiating for.

Hello, my name is Beige, and I'm in hell.

[Polarpenguin]

Thanks for the commendation Twowheels. Really like the premise, just my sort of book.

Is currently £0.77 on Amazon UK, can't really go wrong at that price.

[ShellShock]

Shame about the poor grammar in the snippet you posted.

[Mike L]

The fact that the book got some poor reviews is pretty irrelevant - or it should be. If these were professional reviews in a reputable newspaper or journal, you'd be right to take notice of them. But many of the so-called reviews that are posted on Amazon are such a load of drivel that's they're hardly worth reading (but there are always some notable exceptions).

Shame about the poor grammar in the snippet you posted.

Yes, that struck me as well.

Mike

[varlog]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Shame about the poor grammar in the snippet you posted.

Originally Posted by Mike L

Yes, that struck me as well.
Mike

I am not native English -could you elaborate?

[pwalker8]

I think that ultimately if you enjoy the book, it really doesn't matter if it got bad reviews or not. I've had a few books that I liked that honest compels me to admit weren't exactly great literature and could best be described as pure pulp. For what ever reason, it just seemed to be the right book at the time I read them.

[Mike L]

I am not native English -could you elaborate?

Well, if I was subbing this text, I would make two changes straight away:

I've gotten stuck in the middle

I'd get rid of "gotten", which is an awful word in this context. I might change it to "found myself', or - at a pinch - "got".

.. between the parents who understandably want him back and between those who will keep Tristan locked away ....

I'd delete the second "between", which is redundant and sounds odd.

The above are not necessarily errors in grammar, but they are examples of poor writing, in my opinion.

Mike

[twowheels]

Agreed with your suggestions, but for me it [the loose wording of the snippet] creates an informal feel. We can become too stuffy and formal in our writing, and it really depends what you're going for.

[ShellShock]

I think "gotten" is the preferred American English, but the two "betweens" is just wrong, informal or not.

[Rizla]

The grammar is fine.

Also the style is good and flows naturally. There is nothing wrong with it. It is written very well.

Be careful telling school kids how not to spell potato.

[ShellShock]

Doesn't the double use of "between" strike you as odd?

I've gotten stuck in the middle, between the parents who understandably want him back and between those who will keep Tristan locked away until their demands are met.

.

To me this means he is stuck between his parents, and also stuck between "those who will keep Tristan locked away".

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Doesn't the double use of "between" strike you as odd?

.

To me this means he is stuck between his parents, and also stuck between "those who will keep Tristan locked away".

Trying to avoid spoilers, but that's basically the case.

[KaiReader]

Looks interesting, it's now on my list of things to read

Apparently the Author is working on another book, info here: http://www.dimpixelbooks.com/

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by twowheels

Trying to avoid spoilers, but that's basically the case.

So he is stuck in two middles? Stuck in the middle between his parents, and stuck in the middle between those others? But the quote is THE middle, i.e., one middle, not two.

[DiapDealer]

Going to check this one out. Since I find a few slightly ambiguous/awkward sentences in almost every book I read (regardless of the author's pedigree and the editor's grammar-fu), I don't see this one as anything to dwell on.